Voices Carry
by anyadoll
Summary: Just a little after "Athens" piece I wrote and forgot to post, forgive me!


**A/N: **So I'm ashamed to say I've watched "Athens" probably 50x already. I'm a freak, I know, and I knew this had to be written. Just a little one shot follow up. I squinted as much as possible and the birthdate on Riley's file says April 26, 1982 (which is the real year she's born). If they're playing to their actual ages, that makes the leads 13 years apart. I'm saying 10 for tv show land, and totally just taking artistic license with that audit guy who didn't matter. 'Broken' by Lifehouse.

**Voices Carry**

_The broken locks were a warning_

_You got inside my head_

_I tried my best to be guarded_

_I'm an open book instead_

_I still see your reflection, inside of my eyes_

_That are looking for purpose_

_They're still looking for life_

XOX

Within the span of mere minutes their lives had changed drastically earlier that day. One moment he'd been teasing her about going out with the audit 'snitch' to get them a passing grade and the next he didn't know her name let alone his own.

Her stomach felt like lead, and her heart sunk as Dr. Cassidy had gone on explaining how he might not be able to make the memory connections again for days or weeks…if ever. Royal pain in the ass or not, she wanted _her_ Gabriel back, not this one that shot fear into every nerve ending.

When he'd cornered her in the dry server room, she knew no matter what or who he was in that moment, she couldn't kill him. He was still the asset, and she still wasn't important. It would always be her duty to protect him, even then, even that way. Even as Lillian told her not to trust him.

Even as she gave her permission to kill him.

But he was her partner, her friend, and if she could just get through to him somehow maybe it would all be okay. He'd hesitated more than once with the gun pointed at her already. Some part of him still knew her and couldn't pull the trigger, and if she could reach that part, they'd be okay.

She'd told him the kind of man he was and pleaded with him to listen to that inner voice he'd spoken to her about that morning. To not think so hard, to _feel_ instead. To sense how he felt about her.

He hadn't answered, but the war in his eyes took her breath away in those tense moments. It wasn't just friendship he felt for her, she knew that much now. Hell, even Lillian knew that now. He wouldn't have asked if they were intimate earlier if something in her body language and voice hadn't moved him to question it. And she thought she hid her feelings so well.

When he'd relinquished what he thought he knew and held the gun out to her, she'd wanted nothing more than to pull him to her and never let go. She'd settled for the slightest of touches, a brush of her index finger across his own where he gripped the gun.

And then Lillian commanded her to take him to Dr. Cassidy when all was said and done and Jin Cong lay on the garage floor bleeding. She hadn't stuck around once she'd left him in Cassidy's care…instead she'd headed for the bathroom and gripped the sink and tried not to throw up. She threw ice cold water on her face and sobbed as quietly as possible.

Too close. It had all been too close. Too real.

Hours later they were driving home, good as new according to Dr. Cassidy, even though she knew different. They hadn't spoken since she'd talked him down, and the quiet was damaging any calm she had left. She walked his apartment silently, checking for security threats, being especially thorough after a day like today.

"All clear," she nearly whispered, making for the door.

"Riley," he said softly. She stopped with her hand on the knob. "Do you want to know the worst part of having this chip in my head?"

She dropped her hand and turned back to him, knowing it wasn't actually a question. And if he wanted to talk about it, who was she to deny him that.

Gabriel didn't wait for her answer. "That…forty five minutes…will never leave my brain. I've already played it over twice. Every detail. And knowing that I can't change any of that is worse than actually acting it out."

"Gabriel, it wasn't your fault," Riley said, as soothingly as she could.

He shook his head. "But how could I not know? How did I not know me? How did I not know…you?" He sat on the arm of his couch, elbows propped on his knees with his head in his hands. "Worse still, how could I let myself believe anything Jin Cong put in my head?"

Riley took a few calming breaths, wary to approach him still. "Maybe, for a little bit, you wanted to believe it," she answered carefully.

He brought his head up. "Why would I want to believe you were a double agent or that you killed Amelia?"

She sighed. Riley often wondered if some small piece of him really did believe she killed Amelia, even in the most abstract sense of it, and she supposed she had her answer. That was not a topic she wanted to discuss tonight; the crushing weight of it stuck like a rock in her throat. But she still forced it out. "Do you believe I killed Amelia, Gabriel?"

"No," he answered quickly. "She did it to herself."

Riley wasn't entirely convinced, but who knew what other lies Mei Chen filled Jin Cong with. After all, it was Mei Chen that had accused her first.

"Gabriel, you have to look at it like someone hit the reset button, and took everything you knew away. You were scared, and you were lost. And you still came back," she said quietly, standing in front of him now.

A small, bitter laugh escaped him. "Yes, it took pointing a gun to your head for me to come back, as you say. I wanted to shoot you, Riley. Every part of me wanted to."

She half smiled, arms crossed in front of her. "No, Gabriel. Not every part. I…I wouldn't have been able to talk to _you_ if every part of you wanted me dead."

He looked away. "I'm still not…entirely sure what stopped me," he said, lying through his teeth. He'd watched that particular scene far more than twice. It was the only part of the day that kept playing over and over again. The resigned look in her wide, frightened eyes, how she told him to stop thinking and tell her what he felt for her. And he felt so much. So much it scared him, even in that room with his mind telling him she was the bad guy. But his body told him otherwise, his heart screamed at him.

_Just…feel_…

_Listen to your inner voice…_

_I just…know._

He watched her face fall ever so slightly. Of course he wouldn't want to admit anything to her, not now. Not when everything was open and raw.

She tried to keep a smile on her face. "Well, your inner voice saw fit not to kill me, so I'll take that as a win."

Gabriel stood abruptly, and she resisted the urge to step back. "Probably helped that my inner voice sounds a lot like you," he admitted.

"Does it now," she snickered, eyebrow raised.

He nodded. "Is it too soon to say I'm glad you didn't go out with David the audit snitch? I mean, what was all that 'age appropriate,' 'I think it's inappropriate,' 'only if you're lucky,' crap about? Who says that? I mean, have some dignity."

She punched his arm. "I knew you were eavesdropping!"

"It's not eavesdropping when I can chip the cameras! Oh, and he was definitely four years younger than you, so I guess that explains the horrible one liners."

Riley shook her head. "And you're ten years older than me. Why do you care so much anyway?"

He shrugged. "Like I said, he wasn't the one. Wouldn't want you wasting all that time on something that won't last."

"And where, or who, should I be 'wasting all that time' on, Miss Cleo?" Riley fired back, feeling a bit defensive.

"Definitely not on a guy who lists his three character traits as friendly, age appropriate, and employed," Gabriel said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, Gabriel, why don't you make a list of potential suitors for me and I'll review it in the morning," Riley commented sarcastically, feeling her face heat up and wanting to get away from the incurring tension. "Good night," she said, once again heading for the door.

She opened the door, only to have it pushed closed. She sucked in a breath, fighting the brief fear that zagged down her spine as she flashed to the events of earlier. They'd done more damage than she cared to admit. Riley turned slowly, back pressed against his door. "Gabriel…" she trailed dangerously.

"I don't have to make a list."

The look in his eyes stopped her cold. It was the same look he'd had fighting with himself when she'd told him to just look at her and feel. It was the same as when he'd asked if they were intimate, and the confusion she'd read across his face when she told him no. Like that version of him couldn't understand why they weren't.

The only time they were ever this close was when she was tackling him, and that was usually her invading his space. They were a few breaths apart at most, and she could feel the energy pulling them magnetically, though they didn't touch at all. They simply hovered on the edge.

She swallowed nervously, finding it hard to get any air into her lungs. His breathing was just as jagged as hers, she realized. He broke the strained silence first, hands clenched at his sides, keeping himself from touching her. He had things to say, and touching her wouldn't help him.

"All day," he began, no louder than a rough whisper. "All day, you asked me to look at you, just you, and feel. And I did, every time. But what I felt sure doesn't define us as partners or friends, like you tried to tell me. If I'm…really listening to my inner voice…"

"What are you trying to say Gabriel," she managed to stumble out, though it was more a statement than a question.

He looked into her eyes, losing himself in emerald green. "You brought me back, Riley. You brought me…home."

Neither could recall who moved first. She heard the words and she felt the sudden shift between them. Standing there like statutes one moment, and then it was as if all bets were off and he wasn't waiting for a protest. Not that she would have put up much of a fight.

His mouth crashed onto hers hard, desperate, almost sorrowful. It was anything but kind; after a day like this she didn't expect soft and gentle. Hands were everywhere, pressing her into the steel door and pushing up her shirt while hers combed through his hair and gripped his broad shoulders roughly. He pulled back when she let out a shuddering gasp, but his lips immediately drew back to her delicate collarbone, tracing up her neck as he pulled her heated body into his bruising embrace.

"Gabriel," she said breathlessly, trying to extricate herself from his roaming hands. It was nearly impossible to resist when his lips met hers again, pulling her under the surface she tried so hard to break through. "Gabriel!" she cried, finally able to gather enough strength to put her hands against his chest and push.

His expression was twisted with confusion and full of regret. He shook his head, gasping for air himself. "I'm…I'm sorry," he said, voice full of pain when he realized there were tear tracks on her cheeks. She reached up to touch the wetness on her face. He retreated into his kitchen as she used the door for support.

He thought…oh, no.

"Gabriel," she said, gentler this time. He gripped his sink with white knuckles. "It's not, _that_," Riley tried, licking her lips. "It's a lot…all of this, after everything today."

She stood off to the side of him, but he kept his gaze focused on the window. "Look at me," she whispered. He flinched at her words. "You didn't hurt me, Gabriel. I'm just…I'm glad I have my partner back. My friend."

Riley raised her left hand, using it to pull his gaze to her, swallowing hard at the clouded darkness overshadowing his blue eyes. "Tell me, Gabriel. What did you feel, when you looked at me?"

His eyes roamed her face, memorizing her. He turned his cheek into her hand, sighing. "You really want to know?" His gravelly voice asked.

She nodded slightly. "Yeah, I really do."

Gabriel couldn't say the words though. They burned on the tip of his tongue but voicing them, putting letters together to describe it seemed impossible. He pulled her in again, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist and resting his forehead against hers. This time the kiss he bestowed was gentler but somehow more intimate; he moved one of his hands to stroke her cheek where the tear stain still remained. She tugged on his upper arm, walking him forward and her backward until she felt the wall behind her, guiding them toward his room.

"Riley," he whispered cautiously, gauging the tension between them when they reached the threshold.

Words were getting them nowhere, and they both knew it. There'd been enough words said today, and not enough action. She tried a different tactic, raising her wide, trusting gaze to his bewildered one. She smiled shyly, looping her arms around his neck in encouragement.

"_Show_ me what you felt, Gabriel."

The darkness disappeared, replaced by the bright, wicked desire from before. He eased her into the room and closed the door behind them, kissing any skin he could find before he drew her eyes to his.

"Whatever you say, Partner."


End file.
